Grateful Dead members pay tribute to Phil Lesh after he dies at age 84

The Grateful Dead pays tribute to “brother” Phil Lesh.

The 84-year-old bassist died “peacefully” on the morning of Friday, October 25, according to a statement posted on his verified Instagram account.

Later that same day, his surviving Grateful Dead bandmates — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — posted a heartfelt message on Instagram about their late friend's musical prowess and influence on them.

“Today we lost a brother. Our hearts and love go out to Jill Lesh, Brian and Grahame. “Phil Lesh was irreplaceable,” they began, referring to Lesh’s wife and children, of whom he is survived.

“In one note from the Phil Zone you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river. It went where the muse took it. He was an explorer of inner and outer space who happened to play bass. He was a circumnavigator through previously unknown musical worlds. And more,” the statement continued.

Lesh's bandmates added that they “could count on the fingers of one hand the people who we can say have had an equally profound impact on our development – in every way.”

They said: “There have been even fewer people who have done this consistently over the decades and will continue to do so as long as we live. What a gift he was to us.”

“We won't say we will miss him, because in every moment, nothing we do will be without the lessons he taught us – and the lessons to come as the conversations continue.”

Lesh, who was from Berkeley, California, first met his future bandmate Jerry Garcia at a party in Menlo Park in 1962. A few years later, in 1965, Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan played their first gig under the name The Warlocks.

However, at the end of the same year the band became known as The Grateful Dead. From then on, they began performing throughout California and released 13 studio albums together as well as dozens of live albums. Hart joined the band in 1967 as drummer.

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McKernan died in 1973 and the group has had various other members over the years, including keyboardist Brent Mydland. They eventually disbanded in 1995 after Garcia died at age 53 that same year. Lesh later formed his own group, Phil Lesh and Friends, among other musical ventures. Kreutzmann, Weir and Hart subsequently formed Dead & Company with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, with Jay Lane replacing Kreutzmann on drums in 2023.

In The Grateful Dead's Oct. 25 statement, he went on to describe how much Lesh loved the Dead Heads, the band's fans' name, and that he “always kept them in his heart and in his head.”

“The thing is…Phil was so much more than a virtuoso bassist, a composer, a family man, a cultural icon…” they continued. “There will be many tributes and they will all say important things. But for us, we've been making music with Phil Lesh for a lifetime and the music has a way of saying it all. So listen to the Grateful Dead and.” That way, we’ll all take a little bit of Phil with us forever.

“Because this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago,” they concluded the tribute, referencing their song “Box of Rain” from the 1970 album American Beautybefore signing off: “Mickey, Billy and Bobby.”

The post also included a series of photos from Lesh's performances over the years, while the band also shared their statement on their Instagram Stories, this time in the form of a letter surrounded by a border of red roses, with Lesh's name and birth and Date of death at the top.

The statement announcing Lesh's death did not give a cause of death but said: “He was surrounded by his family and full of love.”

“Phil brought great joy to everyone around him and leaves a legacy full of music and love. We ask that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time,” the statement continued.